Mexico faces the risk of receiving thousands of tons of contaminated and dirty plastics, mainly from the United States.
This is due to the decision of the Chinese government to close its borders to this type of waste, said Marisa Jacott, director of Common Borders and the “Burn Rubbish Kill” campaign.
The risk arises because the global plastic recycling industry is looking for new markets and because Mexico has not signed the amendment of the Basel Convention for the control of the transboundary movement of waste.
This agreement aims to clean the international trade of these wastes and reduce damage to environmental health from plastic leaks.
Jacott says the OECD countries have not incorporated this amendment because of the US blockade to continue exporting their contaminated plastics to developing countries.
In these countries, technical recycling capacities are not adequate, affecting the health of people and the environment.
Miguel Rivas, project leader of Oceans without Plastics, from Greenpeace Mexico and member of the “Burn Waste Mata” campaign, mentioned that the environmental organization is campaigning for the most important consumer product brands to reduce the use of plastics.
Both Common Borders and Greenpeace Mexico urge the ratification of the Basel Convention amendment so that the country joins the 97 nations that have already done so.
This will reduce and minimize waste from its source of generation, as well as stop the massive entry of non-recyclable, mixed and contaminated plastics, mainly from the United States.
Likewise, they demand that the incineration of this waste be prohibited in Mexico because doing so contravenes good practices for the management of plastic waste.
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Plastic Waste aims to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of hazardous wastes, taking into account the vulnerabilities of developing countries.
